Behind the curtain
by h3x
Summary: After a long training trip Naruto and his Mentor Jiraiya return to the Hidden Leaf, a village that is supposed to be a place of justice and happiness. What if the roots of the great tree that is Konoha, were to turn out rotten and corrupt?
1. El Mañana

**Behind the curtain**

_A Naruto Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: Everything is other people's property.

**A/N:**  
repeat on Welcome, to my latest fanfiction repeat off This story is set right at the beginning of the pre-timeskip timeline and will be 99,9 canon till that point. I'm no sure yet, in wich way I will follow the original story from that point on, IF I do it… However, I may change small facts to ease my burden a little (like the change of the training time from two-and a half year to three years) and make things more interesting. So, if you stumble across one of those things don't blame for not knowing the story. I do know it and everything is done on purpose, same for grammatical and spelling errors ;)

**Rating: M**  
Well…not much to say, it's a formula. Tayuya swearing M-rating. That's it.  
Furthermore there will be a list of things that human beings sadly tend to do to other human beings (and it's not the hugging and caressing I am talking about), described in a more or less detailed way.

* * *

_** Behind the Curtain**_

* * *

_**- Prologue -**_

**_El Mañana_**

* * *

The brown-feathered bird of prey was slowly soaring into the cloudy November sky. Though, already late in the year, it was unnaturally warm and all inhabitants of the northern part of the forest were busy gathering whatever nuts, roots, leaves and last flowers they could get in those last days of fall. Among them had been one, particularly lush looking, hare that the bird had instantly chosen to be its next meal. When the long eared victim to-be had noticed the shadow, it had instantly stopped mumbling at whatever it had found and started running instead.  
With the routine of an experienced hunter, the bird had cut off the smaller animal's way to the edge of the forest, leaving only one possible way, in the direction of the huge sandstone cliffs that towered out of the forest. A long way with absolutely no cover.  
Feeling the sun in his back the predator knew that its time had ultimately come.  
Donning the huge wings to its side it switched into a steep dive and aimed at its prey. The hare stood frozen there, frozen in terror, it would be an easy one to take.  
Game over.  
There was nothing to see but a little flicker of something that had caught and reflected sunlight on its path. Whatever it was, it ruined the hunter's plans for his supper completely. The object had struck its chosen prey through the head and impaled it to the stone behind.  
If an animal could curse, that bird would have done it in the most colorfull way. Since it, unfortunately wasn't, it simply let out a high pitched scream of anger and indignation and flew away, searching for something else to fill its stomach.  
The blonde boy that approached the dead hare from the undergrowth didn't even notice that he had ruined a day's efforts to do, what was currently the only thing that haunted his mind. To get food. Whistling a song he had heard somewhere in the water country the young man pulled the kunai out of his future meals head, cleaned it in the surrounding grass and placed it in a pocket at his right upper tight. Afterwards he grabbed the dead animal at the ears and started making his way back to the camp that his teacher would have hopefully finished setting up by now. 

_If this perverted, lazy old geezer is sleeping again he's gonna regret it. For sure. It's his damn fault that the villagers in the last town chased us off like fleabags, before we could get rations._

He was still shivering when he remembered all the nasty and additionally, extremely sharp looking objects that the enraged mob hat fired after the duo. Especially that scythe. Luckily he had his unconscious mentor to shield him, even though the said one wasn't all happy about his unwilling transformation into a pincushion Well, after all Naruto hatched no regrets about having done so. Afterwards, the old goat had seriously tried to convince him that he had mistaken the women's for the men's entrance, and that that was the only reason for him appearing on the wrong side of the wooden wall, that separated pond, and genders alike. Minus his clothes of course.  
As enjoyable his journey had been, the blonde was happy to return to the Hidden Leaf at last.  
There were lots of people he wanted to see and lots of pork-miso ramen bowls he wanted to clean out to the last drop.  
Besides that he was happy to be relieved from his teacher, even if only for a short while. It wasn't that he didn't like or respecte him. In fact, he was one of the most important people in his life. Where Umino Iruka was more an older brother, Jiraya was mainly the father he never had, even when he hardly showed his soft and caring sides and tried his best to cloak his qualitites as a teacher with countless embarrassing and childish actions.  
He seriously loved the withe haired frog-master but travelling with him was simply too…troublesome.  
It was their last day before reaching the village. They could have easily made it there long before dusk but they both had silently agreed to take their time and enjoy each others company for the, probably, last time.  
He knew it. Jiraya knew it.  
The times of peace were over. Akatsuki had started moving and both, master and student knew their goals.

_They won't get you._

He vowed, more to himself than to the demon, imprisoned in his body. He remembered a story an old man hat told on a market in the north.Leaf Ninjas weren't encouraged to travel around the Stone Country, to say it in the political way. In truth they were in reasonable danger when doing so. The one's that had proven this fact as true were a group of Rock Ninja that had chased him through the streets of a middle sized village. He still mentally cursed himself for not having removed his _hitai-ate_ that day. Luckily, the market square had been crowded and one _henge_ later, he had found shelter in the anonymity of a small mass that had gathered around a bearded, old man who was telling stories.  
Naruto had stayed there, even after the Shinobi had lost his track and even returned the next day to hear the ending.  
It was a story about intrigues, love, prophecies and the cruelty of fate. About the rise and fall of kingdoms over night, brutal deeds and the eternal struggle of good and evil.  
One sentence had particularly been memorized in his mind.

_Winter is coming._

And indeed, it suited his situation perfectly. The summer, that had been especially warm and enjoyable this year, had already lasted way to long and an old maxim said "The warmer the summer, the harsher the winter. And if that was true it was going to be a very harsh winter.

_Winter is coming._

It echoed again through his mind but was quickly suppressed when he sensed a series of chakra bursts from the direction of the camp. It was a code that his teacher had taught him.  
The message was short and clear.

_Strangers. Four. Unidentified. Be aware.  
_  
Cursing, he dug his feet into the ground and gathered chakra while accelerating. His designated supper hadn't even hit the ground before he vanished in the trees. Nonetheless he meant to hear a bird's victorious scream right above the treetops.

_Kuso._

* * *

_**Behind the Curtain**__**  
**_

_**- Prologue -  
**_

_**-END-**_

* * *

**A/N:**  
So much for the Prologue, I know its short but that's what it is supposed to be, a bare introduction.  
Since you have already wasted a certain amount of your lifespan to read this story, I would be most gratefull if you would take yourself another minute to review.  
Tell me why (if) you liked the story. Tell me why you probably didn't like it, what you would like to see improved and so on.  
Serious criticism is desired. 


	2. Welcome Home

**Behind the curtain**

_A Naruto Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: Everything but the idea of this story is other people's property.

**A/N:  
** Wow, nearly three weeks from the idea to the finished chapter; indeed a hard birth.  
Read and enjoy

* * *

**_Behind the Curtain_**

* * *

_**- Chapter One -**_

_**Welcome Home**_

* * *

Propelling himself from tree to tree Naruto wondered wich fool would dare to attack them, here, with Konoha looming at the horizon. It was a free one-way ticket into the prison cells of the Leaf, including a visit from the specialists of the Interrogation-corps. Well, probably they would simply be executed.  
Sarutobi Sasuke, as soft and gentle a man he had been to all people who meant something to him, had always heavily punished those who dared to violate others and the demon-vessel had absolutely no idea how Tsunade would handle this.  
At maximum speed he leapt from tree to tree. He was close now. The blonde found himself smiling when he thought about the upcoming fight. He wanted to prove, that he remembered everything the frog-hermit had taught him. Naruto loved it when the older man patted his head after he had completed one of the difficult tasks or training sessions and he loved it even more to hear him mumble some kind of laud.  
It was everything he needed to be happy. He suddenly wondered how Gaara would have developed if someone like Iruka or Jiraya had taken care of…  
Lost in his thoughts and due to his high speed he had, by a hair, missed the movement below him. As silently as possible he used the remaining momentum of his last jump to fly and cling to the next tree, positioning himself behind and above the stranger.  
On all fours and brutally violating everything that was known as 'gravity', he started to vertically crouch down the tree like an oversized spider.  
Well, in Konoha's forests there was basically nothing impossible but the blonde was quite sure that none of those creepy insects had his size.  
Slowly approaching the dry forest's soil, his eye's never left the person.  
He didn't dare to inform Jiraya via chakra burst. The newcomer would definitely notice it if he was a shinobi. The last time the two had been in a similar situation Naruto had done it. It had been a mission they had been given by some merchants in the Lightning country who had a precious object stolen by some outlaws and were now shaken down to pay ransom. Happy to get some money into their empty pockets the two had accepted and it had taken them no time to track their targets. Unfortunately and the due to the ignorance of the fact that their enemies were shinobi, the target detected it and fled. It had been quite a hassle to chase him, mainly because they had to knock his whole party down in order to get the object, an oversized, sparkling emerald, back.  
Naruto knew that he wasn't the brightest most of the time. Part of it was only theatre to gain attention but some things he simply didn't understand. Especially theory and things he wasn't interested in. Luckily combat strategy was neither one group, nor the other. In fact he loved it and while his brain seemed to hibernate most of the time it was able to come up with strategies in battle that rivaled a certain genius. 

_Wonder what Shikamaru's doing right now.  
Probably watching clouds again._

Not that he knew Shikamaru's habits well but most of the time Naruto saw him, he was lying around and staring at the sky. Inwardly he cursed. His minds were distracting him again at the wrong time.  
He had lost sight of his target.

_Hell, I'm such an Idiot._

Having nearly reached the bottom, he pushed himself of the tree, somersaulted in midair and landed on the ground. His eyes, scanning the immediate area suspiciously. Around him where no real hiding spots. The place was only moderately wooded, the undergrowth was meager and there were no rocks big enough to even hide a deer.  
Being at a loss with his problem he made some steps in the direction where he had last seen the stranger, torn between the prospect of a fight with the two shinobi and the need to find the guy that had recently disappeared right in front of his eyes.  
He turned around helplessly. There was no one to be seen.  
His first idea was to create some clones to aid him in his search but that would reveal his position to everyone who would probably sneak around.

* * *

_"While rushing into things might work out sometimes, you will fail in achieving your goal this way mostly. When two shinobi of equal physical condition meet, the one with the sharper mind will win. Even when he is weaker of body, a good strategy can make up for it"  
The huge frog-hermit patted his pupils head. The boy's morose face expression turned into a questioning look. The white haired sighed.  
"See" he said. "It's essential to have a plan before you engage an enemy. Furthermore it's not only necessary to plan in combat; you have to plan your whole life. What you want to, what you have to do, and most important when you have to do it and in wich way.  
For example, you have to check your fridge to make sure that you have everything you need. If you see something amiss, you should put a note to fill up your stock so that you have it when you need it" he scratched the back of his head. "Well a shopping list is maybe no the best example but I think you get what I want to say, don't you? "  
Naruto looked up at his mentor. For a long second there glances met. Then he simply replied:  
"No.  
It took the blonde about half a minute to notice that his teacher wasn't following.  
He turned around, only to see him, still standing where he had answered his question. Jiraya's head and arms hung lifelessly down in front of him.  
A sudden gust of wind made the wild white hair flow freely while something that looked like a little thorny bush rolled past the lonely figure.  
Naruto wondered where it came from, he had never seen a plant like that before.  
Wind country was indeed a strange place.  
"Oi, ero-sennin, you alright?" he shouted back.  
The addressed needed a rough ten seconds to react to this. Among all the thoughts that had crossed his mind in the eternity of seconds that an attentive observer could reduce to exactly 43, there had only been one constantly repeating itself.  
Why me?_

* * *

_"The most important thing in this technique is concentration and chakra control"  
The white haired had turned to lecture mode.  
"If you use too much you will be stuck within your hairs, or not be able to withdraw it in time to counter attack. On the other hand…" He took a deep drag from his pipe before continuing.  
"When you don't use enough, the shield won't harden properly or not stretch far enough to cover the necessary parts"  
Another cloud of smoke left his mouth.  
"The better your chakra control is and the more experience you have, the faster it can shield you. For now simply try to let it grow slowly. Concentrate your chakra in your hairs and form the seals"  
"Hai" the blonde repeated and started to follow his mentor's orders.  
"Ready?" Jiraya asked.  
"Ready!" Naruto answered._

_Hari Jizou_

_What the toad master had feared, that the boy would use a little too much chakra didn't happen. In truth, he completely overdid it.  
From inside the huge blonde fur ball that had a rough size of 6 feet in every direction, not to mention the spikes, came muted screams and again a single thought was stuck in Jirayas mind.  
Why me?  
Why. Always. Me._

* * *

_It took him a rough two minutes to explain Naruto how to cancel the technique and withdraw his hair.  
By the time the boy managed to do it, he was panting heavily. The ball had been tight enough to s stop air from getting inside. His mentor commented it with a smack on his head.  
"Bah, I've got hairs in my mouth" the blonde complained.  
"What had I told you about the amount of chakra you should use?" he demanded to know.  
"Nothing, just not to overdo it" the demon-vessel retorted. "You said nothing about an exact amount I should use"  
With pouty voice he added: "And I really didn't use much"  
"How much exactly?" "Not much, maybe as much as needed for a Rasengan"  
Jiraya nearly fainted.  
"When exactly did you loose your wits brat? Even a single Rasengan is usually enough to leave a common shinobi drained. Hari Jizou uses probably a twentieth of it"  
He rubbed his hurting temples.  
"You really are a chakra freak. Well, never mind. Adjust your chakra amount and try it again and don't forget, concentration is the key to chakra control. If you have trouble, use the meditation I taught you last month. I'm going to get some food for us" with these words the white haired disappeared.  
When Naruto was alone he sighed and tried to remember what hat to be done. Closing his eyes he listened to his inside.  
'Let's go'_

* * *

Since his favourite technique was no option. When he wanted to remain unnoticed he would have to rely on his senses and a certain technique would help him doing.  
Closing his eyes, he forced his heart to beat slower, this way he would hopefully be able to locate his target's position with his acouesthesia.  
The time he needed to calm him down was insignificantly smaller than on his first tries, he needed only a little more than 30 seconds to reach a state the state of partial trance that would allow him to gain more control over his mind an eliminate unwanted sensation.  
The next step was to eliminate exactly those from his mind.  
The wind, twitter, the sounds of animals roaming the forest, his own bodies noises, his blood, his heart, it was difficult to keep the concentration up but it paid of. He heard something.  
Breathing. No, panting. Short and rapid. It came from behind a tree to his left.17 feet away. Ground level. 

_Gotcha._

And he had already an idea how to get a hold on his prey. Since his opponent was hiding, he was either not willing to fight or not strong enough, maybe even both.  
He gave it a second thought.  
A shinobi from genin level on caused barely no noises, especially not while hiding, probably the stranger was wounded or maybe not even a ninja. Unwillingness to fight was more than true and whatever the physical situation of the person was, seemed not to be enough to fight.  
Naruto grinned.  
He would have some fun with this guy. He was the reason that thy hare currently wasn't sizzling about a good nice fire to fill his empty stomach. Well, since it was only a single one and not all four he was only a part of the reason but Naruto didn't care. He was the only one in reach.

_So what._

Canceling his technique he started to move around, looked behind bushes and trees. He tried his best so search as noisily as possible for a ninja. "Crap, where is that guy?" he said loudly, making some more fuss and walking randomly around until he stood in front of a certain tree, than turned around an leaned against it.  
"Hmm, damn" he kept on acting, "I think I lost him". He sighed loudly and grinned.  
"Nah well, doesn't matter; I bet in Konoha they'll have something tastier than this one, who knows if he had washed himself." He turned around and started walking in the general direction of the Leaf.

_I shouldn't always exaggerate everything, could barely stop myself from laughing. Hell, I would've given my right hand to see his face._

Climbing the next tree he couldn't stop himself from chuckling, the great finish was yet to come.

* * *

Hearing the pursuer disappear the figure breathed a sigh of relief.  
One more freak to loose track.  
A sudden sting of pain shook the black clad person but a muffled groan was everything to be heard. People say that you will emotionally blunt when you experience bad things too often.  
Pain seemed to be an emotion.  
For as long as the person could think it had been the best friend possible and since lately it was no enemy anymore, it was a friend that reminded you that you were still alive.  
Mentally counting to hundred the person tried to gather the energy to stand up.  
It was hard.  
So damn hard.  
The warm air was like heaven, seeing the sun was even better, even though it was still too bright after the eternity of darkness.  
The ground was soft and the scent of moss and wildflowers filled the nostrils while the soft breeze tickled the skin everywhere the black suit had torn open.  
All in all a nice place to die.  
For one brief moment giving up seemed to be an option. It would be so easy to just lean back and escape this world of horror but the hatred that the person felt fuelled the fire inside, the part that desperately clung to life however bad the circumstances were.  
There were many people that were on the left side of the black clad's list.  
No. Giving up was definitely no option. Not now.  
And who wanted to die in a shitty forest in the middle of fucking nowhere anyway.  
All the way, moving had seemed to be the hardest part.  
The realization that getting up was much worse came indeed painfully.  
When the person finally stood, sweat had covered the whole body and every breath hurt like red-hot knifes on naked flesh. Suppressing a shudder the stranger corrected that analogy. This was worse.  
It took another four minutes before the first step was taken. The quickly drying red-brown stain that covered the bark remained, for the time being, unnoticed.

* * *

Hidden behind leaves and branches the demon-vessel waited.  
He would jump down and scare the hell out of the guy before capturing him.  
Naruto was not quite sure if his action was correct but as a Leaf ninja he had every right to demand to know why people were playing "Hide & Seek" on Konoha's territory that included all the land in a 20 mile radius.  
The blonde rubbed his hands. His position was perfect. He sat on a tree with thick branches that would cover him completely if looked at from below. The foliage was abundantly covered with horizontally growing leafs, hiding him like a screen from below and wouldn't rustle when he jumped.  
The whole tree was approximately 21 feet high, and edged the trail that led through the wood.  
Simply divine.  
He suddenly came to the thought that his target may have changed direction but the bad feeling that started building up in his gut's disappeared in an instant when he saw the black clad person appearing on the path.  
For the first time he was close enough to examine the figure properly.  
The first thing he noticed was the fact that he had obviously been wrong with his guess.  
It was no man.  
In fact it was a woman.  
The black, worn jumpsuit looked suspiciously similar to the standard ANBU suits. It was sliced and hung open at the right shoulder, above the hip and at the right thigh while there mere more parts were the black material had been torn off and revealed skin.A scarf surrounded the woman's head, leaving him unable to get a look at her face to determine her age. The only thing that gave a offered a little information, mainly because it was the only thing to be seen, were some strands of red hair.  
He had no idea who severe her wounds were but the clumsy movement and the limping suggested that it was nothing superficial.  
Naruto decided to cancel his stunt, whoever this person was. She needed help, seriously.  
The demon-vessel waited for her to come closer to his position.  
He couldn't risk to be fooled; she wouldn't die by taking some more steps.  
She wouldn't, would she?  
After taking another look at the wrecked figure he wasn't so sure anymore.

* * *

Tayuya knew that it was over.  
Her body barely responded to the commands her brain gave anymore.  
Lifting a foot became a battle, shifting her weight was nearly impossible and breathing didn't work to well either.  
She felt tears rising up; tears she thought were long gone. All the pain, all the humiliation, all the effort to break free and now, ultimately, she had failed, completely and utterly.  
Her revenge would never come. No fear would ascend in the hearts of her enemies when they heard her name, only amusement. She could already hear the laughter when they heard her name and the way she had died. It sounded like the laughter of those who had hurt her. Men with white masks with stylized animals painted on them, laughing at her cries.  
Finally without enough power to lift her leg, she stumbled across a small stone and that moment she knew that she wouldn't be able to regain her balance.  
She would fall and never arise again.  
Closing her eyes she waited for the impact.  
It never came.  
At least not in the way she had expected it. It was much softer and when she managed to open her eyes again she stared directly into sea blue orbs.  
Whoever had just caught her had long blonde hair and blue eyes.  
Then it struck her.  
That face.  
She knew that face.  
It was one of the last things that she had seen before that bitch had nearly killed her.  
One of those who had defeated her team killed them all, all but that Uchiha brat.  
She closed her eyes, tears flowing freely. Desperation dug its claws into her distressed mind. Even in her last moments one those she despised was present to torment her.  
She welcomed the darkness that saturated her mind.

* * *

It took the blonde a few seconds to overcome his shock. The first reason was that he simply wasn't used to physical closeness to females, especially not in non-combat situations. The second thing was that his left hand that supported her back had found a deep, wet, fleshy hole and he was pretty sure that the wet liquid that was currently coating this hand was nothing but blood.  
He mad a mental notice to himself that he would never ever think things like "a few more steps won't kill her" again.  
Carefully he laid her down to examine the wound, as long as he didn't know how severe it was he couldn't do anything. With the help of a kunai, he sliced the black, wet material away and gave a sharp hiss when he saw the wound.  
It was in the upper left of the back and right below the scapula, probably four inches long and one and a half wide. The edges of the wound were clean. 

_A knife wound, that's for sure. No idea with whom she fucked off enough to make him stab her in the back but it's a miracle that she's still alive._

Barely alive, but alive and that was the important thing. He had to get her to Jiraya; his teacher would be able to help her.  
But first he had to do something about that injury.  
He searched his pockets for bonds and swore when he didn't find any. He remembered.  
The last one's he had used to patch this stupid idiot of a teacher together after the said had a certain encounter in a certain village on a certain wrong side of the bathhouse.  
With a sigh he removed his jacket and shirt. Taking the knife he had used earlier out again he cut the white material into long straps and used them to bandage the wound on her back and leg. The wound at her hip was superficial enough to be ignored for now.  
Picking his jacket out of the dirt he sighed again and put it back on before carefully heaving the woman into his arms.  
Sometimes the demon-vessel asked himself why it had always to be him to get in situations where he had absolutely no idea what to do.  
He looked down and was surprised to find the wrappings around the woman's head were still in place, closed eyelids were the only thing visible.  
Anyway, removing them now was no option; every second without medical help would lower her chances to survive.  
Suddenly he noticed that he had completely forgotten about Jiraya.  
Four strangers. Since has pretty sure that his mentor wouldn't have let anyone of those four pass if they were enemies that one was probably a fifth one. She was severely wounded and obviously trying to run away. Probably from those four.  
Considering that, hurrying to the toad master was probably a bad idea.  
But where to go?  
A groan escaped his mouth.  
Why had everything to be so complicated, his head hurt in a way it only did when playing Shogi.

* * *

_With furrowed brows and a concentrated look on his face Naruto sat on the ground, and studied the improvised Shogi board that was scratched in the dirt in front of him.  
His head hurt. Massaging his temples he desperately tried to plan his next move.  
The demon-vessel hated this game from the deepest depths of his heart but as a part of his mental lections Jiraya forced him to play it.  
Everyday.  
The blonde was close to burn his teachers scripts for "Icha Icha – The movie" if this torture would go on. Naruto sighed. He had to take it in a more positive way, he had already survived this torture for the last 22 months, only seven more to go and they would return to Konoha.  
He would survive it like he had survived everything.  
Maybe it wouldn't have been so depressing if he had at least won once in all this time but Jiraya wouldn't even let him win on purpose, just to cheer him up. The white haired played this thrice damned game with a seriousness that lay beyond his usual behaviour, somewhere between his "Icha Icha" writing and secret techniques.  
Noticeable was probably that the last thing was definitely not as important to him as the first one; the old geezer was definitely a strange person.  
"Stop dreaming and concentrate on the game" the frog-hermit reproved him, while blowing smoke from his mouth. One more thing Naruto disliked; the tobacco stank. He had no idea why so many old men desperately clung to their pipes.  
"Yeah, yeah, stop bothering me, I'll loose anyway" he scowled and gave a short yelp when the white haired hit his head with the wooden object.  
"If you think you loose, you will loose, how often do I have to repeat that"  
Dropping a pawn to the head of Jirayas right horse he murmured something about "senile old men.  
If only this headache would end._

* * *

Naruto skimmed through his options.  
He could either go back and risk a confrontation with the unknown shinobi who could be after the female he had stumbled across, inform Jiraya via burst code and await further instructions, try to hide both, himself and the woman or hide her and go back alone to get more information.  
He disliked leaving her alone in her current state and rushing into things might seriously a bad idea. On the other hand he hated waiting but if those shinobi were really after her they would probably be able to detect him and even a ninja as mighty as the toad sannin couldn't stop four ninja if they splitted up.  
The pain in his head worsened. A situation like that was hellish complicated but taking care of others would be one of his primal tasks as Hokage. If he failed with a single person, how could he even think of protecting all the people in Konoha? 

_Think idiot, think._

The throbbing slowly started to turn into a serious distraction when the demon-vessel was finally rewarded with a striking idea. Konoha was a rough 18 miles away, even though he had to be extremely careful he could still make it before dusk.  
The old lady would definitely be able to heal that mysterious woman.  
Naruto decided that this was probably his best option.  
He would send a clone to inform Jiraya where he had gone and why, after gaining some distance.  
Highly pleased with himself he started moving towards Konohagakure.

* * *

Two hours later the blonde found himself lying flat on the ground, panting heavily.  
Even though his package was rather lightweighted it was still too much to carry the woman over time. The fact that he had to be extra careful because she, even while still being unconscious, whimpered whenever he didn't manage to absorb the shock of the jump properly.  
He simply couldn't stand that so he had changed to running wich had first turned into jogging, then walking and ultimately in himself lying in the cover of some big roots.  
Konoha couldn't be far away, the huge mountains with the stone faces seemed to be pretty close but the big wall wasn't yet in sight.  
Slowly regaining his breath he sat up and leaned against the wood and massaged his neck and upper arm's, the constant strain had taken its toll.  
The blonde watched the sweat that stained his chest and abdomen and shivered. He could feel the goose bumps spread. Closing his jacket he cursed at Jiraya again, if he had managed to suppress his need of "information gathering" as he called his peeping, Naruto wouldn't have wasted his bandages on him and he would still have his shirt.  
While the day's were still nice and warm, the temperatures dropped insanely fast during the night.  
Coming to his shirt…  
His eye's searched the lifeless body a few feet beside him.  
He would better check her vital signs; there was no reason to carry her all the way to let her die now.  
Groaning he heaved his body that suddenly seemed to weight thrice as much as usual up and moved towards his patient.  
Her status was very much the same as a few hours ago, her pulse was still rapid, and her breath was fast and flat.  
The blonde still wondered how she looked beneath that cloth around her head.  
He was torn between removing it or not. Unconscious and close to death or not, it was a privacy he had to respect. On the other hand… Well, no one could blame him for doing so.  
Maybe she had an oversized chin.  
Or huge lips.  
Or pimples everywhere.  
Naruto suddenly had some kind of déjà vu. 

_If I had ever gotten this opportunity with Kakashi-sensei.  
Still no idea what's underneath the mask that's underneath his mask._

In the end his curiosity won and he settled down to work and started to remove the cloth around her head as gently as possible.  
He had to lift her head every now and then and every time he did so he feared that she would open her eyes and demand to know what the hell he was doing.  
All in all he felt like a child who took cakes from the kitchen when he wasn't allowed.  
Not that he had ever been in a similar situation since no one had taken care of him but he could imagine how it felt. He was a prankster after all. The difference had always been the little fact that he had wanted to be caught red-handed.  
Luckily she didn't shock him to death by doing what he expected and when he was finished with his work he was stunned.  
He had been wrong again. This was no woman. It was a girl, not much older than him he guessed.

_Crap, she's beautiful._

She truly was, even in her current pitiful state with all the blood and dirt.  
Her face was well-proportioned. The nose was small and Naruto guessed that her skin was as white as snow when it was clean. It seemed that she hadn't seen the sun for quite a long time.  
Her face was framed by scruffy red, rather short hair that barely reached her neck.  
Nevertheless she was beautiful, that was for sure.

_Who the hell are you?_ He wondered.  
_ And who the fuck did this to you?_

He noticed a small area beneath her eyes where tears had dug small trails in the dirt and blood until the fabric had absorbed them.  
Tears.  
He had seldomly shed them during the last three years.  
One special time had burned itself inextinguishably in his mind.

* * *

_ They had stopped earlier than usual that day. Sun had barely crossed the zenith.  
Naruto returned from a near creak, two refilled water bottles in his right and three fat trout's in his left, to find Jiraya astonishingly busy, bowed above an unfolded scroll.  
For a brief moment the demon-vessel wondered what had struck the old man to work so ferociously, and then he remembered and sighed.  
Perverted hermit from head to toe.  
Sighing again he gutted the fish, impaled it on wooden sticks and placed them above the fire he had lit earlier.  
They ate in silence and finally the hyperactive youngster couldn't stand it anymore.  
"What…" He started but was interrupted by Jiraya who tossed him a scroll.  
The very same scroll he had been writing on earlier.  
Unsure about the meaning of it he glanced at the older man with an enquiring expression on his face.  
"Open it" the frog-hermit responded to his unspoken question.  
And so he did.  
Jiraya examined his student closely while the blonde skimmed through the scroll.  
"Do you get that?" he asked him.  
"Erm… hehe. Well, it… is a little complicated" scratching the back of his head Naruto grinned at him sheepishly.  
"Would you mind reading the first lines aloud? ". It was no question, it was an order.  
He noticed how the grin flickered for a second.  
"Hehe, sure, no problem ero-sennin"  
The white haired noticed the boy's nervousness. Sweat started to cover his forehead.  
"Erm… the first line says… Gu..u…ide, Guide to ad…adva…adva"  
He looked up to his mentor with a pleading look but the sannin's face remained expressionless.  
Focussing on the scroll again he desperately tried to make out the next word.  
"Adva… advan… advan…" the boy desperately tried, but he simply couldn't. He was close to despair. What would Jiraya do if it turned out that he couldn't read. He would probably send him back and then his only chance to get strong enough to bet Sasuke would be gone. Everyone would laugh at him. As usual.  
The blonde felt the tears that build up inside of him and tried to push them back but couldn't.  
His voice finally died along with his hopes.  
Suddenly his teacher's voice cut through his mind with the question he feared.  
"You can't read properly, can you"  
Naruto lowered his head in defeat. That was it. No more dreams of getting his friend back, no more dreams of beating the Snake guy and no more dreams of being Hokage, of being respected. The last thing hurt most.  
His voice was hoarse when he answered.  
"No"  
He bit his lower lip, his fists clenched.  
And suddenly he felt strong arms embracing him.  
"It's OK" Jiraya answered with soft voice.  
"It's OK"  
The tears he managed to hold back till now, broke free and he clung to the man's coat and started crying.  
"Shhhh, it's OK boy, I won't blame you, it's not your fault.  
"Your not going to send me home" Naruto asked in between sobs.  
"Of course not, reading can be learned. What a teacher would I be to dump my student because he isn't perfect when I start training him. What a bastard of person would I be" and with these words the blonde dug deeper into his teacher's coat.  
Lost in thought he patted the boys head with his left while his other still caressed his back.  
'Hell what have they done to you Naruto?' he thought.  
To vilify an orphan fort he deeds of a Yokai. If it wasn't so sad it would have been hilarious.  
Sarutobi had sworn to protect the boy and offer him a normal life.  
Even though one should not say bad things about the deceased.  
Sarutobi Sasuke had failed.  
Not completely, as the boy was alive and even walked the path of a shinobi but overall he had failed and he, Jiraya, sannin and self proclaimed toad master had failed equally to his teacher.  
Looking up into the cloudless sky he suddenly meant to see his students face.  
His first students face.  
'I'm sorry' he apologized silently to the long dead.  
'But I swear you; I'll make up for it. This time I won't run away to hide behind my wounded pride. You were half my age but blessed with twice my wisdom. That's why you wanted me to take care of the boy that day. You knew it didn't you? What would happen?'  
But no one answered his questions, no omen came and no ghost spoke to him.  
He struggled with tears himself; the death of his student had struck him hard. I had been the worst event since Orochimaru's betrayal.  
'I will take care of your legacy Arashi and I shall not fail you again.'  
Silently the two sat there, arm in arm, even long after Naruto had stopped crying.  
Leafs that swirled and danced in the sunlight were the only things that moved._

* * *

Smiling he opened the leather band that kept his ponytail together and enjoyed the cool breeze for a few seconds before he adjusted his hairstyle again.  
He chuckled. Looking like his perverted teacher was a strange thing. The long hair was an unwanted side-effect of the Hari Jizou technique. His chakra control was still far from perfect.  
Naruto sighed once again and tousled his spiky hair. It seemed that he would have to frequent a hairdresser tomorrow, otherwise somebody, what basically means "a mob of pissed off women" could mistake him for Jiraya and try to smack him up in his teachers place.  
But first he had to get to Konohagakure.  
The sun had already begun to set and there was no fun in running through the darkness.  
He used the scarf to replace the bandage at the girl's back that was already hard from all the blood that oozed from the wound.  
Naruto uneasiness grew again. The wound refused to stop bleeding.  
He had given her the last remaining blood pill around half an hour ago. If he wasn't able to make his way to the Leaf in time…  
The demon-vessel didn't dare to follow that train of thought.  
He would not fail.  
Getting up he stretched his body to prevent cramps.  
Then he noticed.  
It was too silent. Way to silent for a forest during night.  
Somebody was coming.  
His eyes desperately tried to pierce the twilight.  
When he saw the figure he ducked behind one of the huge roots, slowly, since hasty movements would only attract unwanted attention.  
Naruto waited.  
The person came from the very direction Naruto himself had come.  
A long black coat disguised the stranger, the hood was dropped and revealed a white mask with a stylized monkey in dark red upon it. 

_ANBU? Are they the one who pursued her?  
Is she some kind of high class missing-nin or what?_

The _Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai_; an elite squad under the direct command of the Hokage, specialized in Assassination and hidden operations beyond enemy's lines.  
He had already had several encounters with them and no one of them had left a very positive impression on him. Watching the ANBU approaching, Naruto wondered.  
The lone figure was indeed alone.  
ANBU were never alone. Never. They were organized in four member squads and splitted only when it was necessary to achieve their goals.  
Splitting up to follow a single track was definitely no option.  
Or was it?  
Naruto had no idea. Jiraya had told him one or two things about the Black Ops he had been a part of himself long ago but it was never much.  
The white haired had always maintained a low profile when it came to his past.  
Nevertheless the blonde was confused.  
He was sure that this lone ANBU was not after him, but after the girl.  
If his granny had sent ANBU to capture her, she had to be pretty dangerous and it was his duty to hand her over. Meanwhile the figure had stopped moving a few dozen feet in front of his hideout.  
Naruto didn't even dare to breath.  
He still remembered what Kakashi-sensei had once told him about the procedure of what happened to captured missing-nin when they had encountered Haku in Wave country.  
He did not want that girl to be killed before he had no idea if she was guilty or not.  
Maybe the ANBU wouldn't notice him.  
Maybe he would just think that he lost track and…

"Hey you, come out there and show yourself, otherwise I have to come and get you."

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck._

Of course he had been detected, not that he hadn't chosen this place with the idea of hiding but of resting.  
The ANBU knew that he was here but he probably didn't know that he wasn't alone.  
Playing theatre had always been one of his best disciplines; maybe he could fool that guy.  
Making sure that his hitai-ate was visible he shouted back: "OK, OK, don't bother. I'll come" and moved out of his cover.  
One thing he particularly hated about masks was the fact that they made it impossible to read face expressions. He had no idea what the man in front of him was thinking but the blonde guessed that he was currently being eyeballed from head to toe.  
"Who are you brat?" the ANBU demanded to know.  
"I have no idea why I should tell you, tell me who YOU are" Naruto retorted.  
It was simply no his style to be commanded around.  
"Kid, you can be happy that I am so patient and not killing you now and here. My name is nothing for you to worry about. I am an ANBU member of the Leaf and allowed to deal with intruders, spies and bandits in any way I consider it necessary. You pretend to be a shinobi from Konohagakure yourself. Identify yourself or I have to make use of my license. Naruto just spat out.  
"You truly suck as an ANBU if you don't know me. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Genin in Hatake Kakashi's genin Team seven"  
It had been pretty hard not to add "…and vessel of the Kyubi no Kitsune"  
He could hear his opponent inhale sharply. A blink later he had himself under control again.  
"Uzumaki Naruto huh? I see. So tell me, Uzumaki Naruto, why are you prowling around in the forest at dusk. I am more than interested in you explanation."

_Shit._

He had not planned this part of the conversation. What should he say?  
"Oh nothing, just hiding someone who is probably accused for committing crimes beyond my knowledge because she looks hot"  
Bad idea!  
While he desperately tried to find a lie that was close enough to reality to be proven afterwards he seemed to have exceeded his time-limit.  
The kunai at his throat at least said so.  
He had seen the movement but he hadn't been prepared to react and henceforth found himself in a rather unfortunate position.  
"I ask you one last time brat: Why are you here, at this place, at this time. Answer me" the voice said from behind. It sounded like he meant what he said.  
He agonized over the question and then he had an idea.  
"Relax, relax. My sensei and I are on a race. The one who reaches Konoha as first one will have to pay the bill at 'Ichiraku ramen' and now take that kunai away, you could hurt somebody with it"  
With a hiss the ANBU withdrew the knife and patted the blondes head in a way that screamed "insult.  
"Good boy. Now tell me the name of your teacher. It seems I have to exchange some words with him.  
"Jiraya" Naruto answered and smiled.  
"Jiraya? You mean the sannin Jiraya?" the man sounded somewhere between surprise and shock.  
"The very one. It seems that I have to exchange some words with him too. For example about ANBU members who exceed their authorizations.  
The demon-vessel had answered with the same words and the same arrogant accent like his opponent who winced like being struck and made a step back.  
In the direction of the girl.  
"Fine, know you know who I am and why I'm here and only to satisfy your interest I grew tired and allowed myself a break. I don't think that this is illegal"  
"No, that's true, nothing wrong." Suddenly the ANBU seemed to switch from "arrogant bad-ass mode" to "aren't we all friends mode" and asked: "Would you please tell me if you have seen a girl. She is around 5"3 tall, wears black clothes similar to mine and has red hair. She is probably wounded and very dangerous. She escaped the prison cells and we are here to bring her back. Don't hesitate to tell me if you"  
Naruto had just take a deep breath, the last part of the masquerade was yet to come, when a sudden rustle came from where he searched shelter.

_Kuso._

He was trying to pull a hell of a stunt off just to save her ass and in the final moment she ruined it.  
Of course the ANBU was already suspicious.  
"What was that?" he asked.  
A quick-witted person would have said something intelligent like "I didn't here anything" or probably "No idea, maybe an animal". Unfortunately it was Naruto and the only intelligent thing that came across his lips was a stunned "Err"  
The ANBU turned around and slowly walked towards the root covered area.  
Naruto was close to panicking, he had to do something but no idea what.  
The special force member was only a few steps away.

_Crapcrapcrap, what shall I do?_

**Three steps…**

**Two steps…**

Without thinking the demon vessel reached for his weapon holster.

**One step…**

In the very moment the black clad man was about to look around the huge root that Naruto had hidden behind earlier and that blocked incoming looks a small animal shot out from below, passed between the legs of the surprised ANBU then made its way in a zigzag course towards the next tree and was quickly out of sight.  
Being close to fainting Naruto realized that he had stopped breathing quite some time ago and inhaled deeply while he mentally swore to protect every squirrel he would ever see in danger.  
The ANBU shook his head, no expression was visible behind the black holes.  
"Just a squirrel. Fine. So, have you seen a girl that matches the description"  
Naruto's answer came a little too hasty for his own liking when he spat a short "No, I haven't seen anyone the last few days. Except for you, Err… and Jiraya-sensei"  
The man was obviously unpleased with the answer but held back, he came over to Naruto and put his hand on the younger one's shoulder.  
"We will find her, don't worry"  
"Never mind I've got to resume work." he said and turned around to take his leave.  
He was only a few feet away when he turned again.  
"I want you to forget this encounter. You have never seen me and I have never seen you. Remember, that well, our eyes are everywhere"  
Without another word he disappeared in a whirl of leaves.  
Naruto felt like breaking down.  
He had seriously ridden it out. Cold sweat covered his whole body and his pulse was beyond everything that could be called 'healthy.  
It had been close. If that squirrel had appeared only one second later the situation would have been very ugly.  
Nevertheless he liked it.  
Naruto had never called himself an adrenalin junkie but he felt so invincible right now that he seriously guessed that he indeed was one.  
Silently he counted to one-hundred before returning to the root covered place.  
The girl was still lying were he had put her down. It seemed like she hadn't even moved.

_Like a sleeping princess_ the blonde thought.

He would have to take some reasonable precautions from now on. If he ran into another guy like that, there might be no squirrel to save his ass.

_And yours_ he mentally added while heaving the girl up.

Six shadow clones were already disappearing in the darkening forest, scouting ahead and behind to spare him further unwanted surprises.

_Time to move again. She's running out of time._

To busy trying to move gently he never noticed that there came way less whimpers from his passenger than before the little encounter with the ANBU. He also didn't notice that the girl's jaw was compressed tightly enough that he could have heard the maiming of her teeth if he had just listened.  
For a short moment he felt like being watched but when he looked down the girl's eyes were closed.  
He ordered his clones to double there efforts.  
No more unwanted surprises.

* * *

Tsunade cursed.  
She liked to curse often and loudly, especially when being bothered with ton's of paperwork day in, day out.  
And as if that wasn't enough, her apprentice 

_Former apprentice, prisoner to-be_ she corrected herself.

Shizune had "accidentally" forgotten to order new sake, the only thing that could help her to relax in a situation like that.  
Dismissing an application of a tea merchant who wanted to have the exclusive right of use for a shared, five square foot backyard and constituted his claim with nothing but that he had lived in the place longer than his neighbour, she decided that she need some fresh air, otherwise she would go crazy.  
Closing the door of the Hokage's room the slug sannin walked down the long hall that lead to the staircase and outside.  
Tsunade wondered what Naruto and his ill-bred, perverted teacher were doing right now.  
It had been three long years since Jiraya had taken the boy to steel him for the upcoming events and she was most curious how they brat had developed in these years.  
Naruto had written her some letters that had always been delivered by courier ninja but she never had the possibility to write back since both, teacher and student were constantly moving.  
Tsunade guessed that it was part of Jirayas plan.  
How perverted and stupid that old geezer was, he was good.

_A perverted freak, a choleric alcoholic and a sadistic megalomaniac; indeed a nice brood that you have raised old man…_

The silence in the old building always brought memories up. That was the reason why she hated and loved it at the same time.  
She had reached the door and was about to open it when a loud knocking made her wince.

_Who the hell is knocking here that late at night? If that's another one of those chandlers buggering me with stupid demands I'm going to gut him alive_.

With an angry look on her face she opened the door and accidentally ripped the hinges out of the wall at the same time.  
The two figures outside left her frozen. With a sickening crack the door hit the ground.  
"I am also happy to see you baa-chan." a boy with long blonde hair and clear blue eyes told her, panting heavily.  
Turning an unknown girl over into her arms she heard Naruto say:  
"Don't care about me. I'm just overworked. Help her, she's as good as dead"  
With this sentence the blonde collapsed to her feet.

_Overworked huh?_

While Tsunade was only a half-blood Hokage, she was a full-blood medic. She reacted instantly by alarming her apprentice and the Emergency squad.  
When they arrived the slug sannin had already moved both, Naruto and the girl to the library, the only room that had enough space to perform the healing ritual that was necessary.  
Her first check-up of the redhead's state of health had left her with a bad feeling; it was a miracle that the girl was still alive.  
She had already closed the wounds to stop the loss of blood but the great amount of internal damage had yet to be fixed.  
Tsunade, finished the last part of the seal that the team would use to hopefully save the patient when the full team, including Shizune arrived.  
No seven minutes had passed.  
Seven minutes from sleep to action.  
But now was not the time to praise her own achievements, there was a life to save.

_Damn it, one more night without sleep, if this doesn't stop I'll look like the Kazekage soon._

She shuddered. What a creepy idea.  
Sighing she barked commands and together with the team she started channelling her chakra into the giant seal.  
At least it wasn't paperwork.

* * *

_**Behind the Curtain**__**  
**_

_**- Chapter One -  
**_

_**-END-**_

* * *

**A/N:  
** First of all I want to thank all reviewers who took their time to leave me a comment. There's nothing as motivating as a review, if you don't believe me, try it yourself.  
Some things that may seem strange:  
-Tayuya IS older than Naruto but guess what? Naruto sucks at guessing.  
-Many characters do sigh a lot; maybe because the author would probably do it in this situation, if it seems unfitting in a sort of way don't hesitate to tell me.  
-I don't dislike the character of the Sandaime. He seems indeed a noble, wise and strong person but the fact is that in some areas he just fucked it up.  
- In the canon story Naruto can read, in this one he can't (well, more he couldn't), at least not properly 

Of course Naruto is more mature since this is once thing I particularly dislike in the pre- time skip arcs. The boy is sixteen years old and has probably seen half the continent; he faces life and death situations every day, even with playing dumbass there is no way he still behaves like a thirteen year old (well except for playing pranks, blame the fox ;) ) The development is supposed to be shown in the short flashbacks, since there are basically no information what the two did during the original two and a half years.  
Please notice that these flashbacks follow no chronological order; the first one takes place a few weeks after they left, the second and third a rough ten month later, while the fifth takes place in between this time.  
Ultimately I can only hope that I have displayed the personalities as close to the canon original as possible and justified the changes well enough for you to get used to them.  
Otherwise you know the deal: six times the prologues length; six times the number of reviews ;)

* * *

Since you have already wasted a certain amount of your lifespan to read this story, I would be most gratefull if you would take yourself another minute to review.  
Tell me why (if) you liked the story. Tell me why you probably didn't like it, what you would like to see improved and so on.  
Serious criticism is desired.

* * *

h3x 01/21/07 


	3. Insidious

**Behind the curtain**

_A Naruto Fanfiction_

Disclaimer: Everything but the idea of this story is other people's property.

**A/N:** I got some question concerning the name "Sarutobi Sasuke". He originally is a famous figure of Japanese tales and I am quite sure (aka I believeJ) that this Sarutobi Sasuke was the idea behind the Sandaime Hokage.

Same with Yondaime's name – please notice that it is still unknown, since the writing on the summoning contract is indecipherable – the "Arashi" Jiraiya talked about in the back flash is just the name I chose (and a very popular one).

One thing I particularly want to mention is that, if there should any questions arise, then please ask me via message / e-mail and not in the reviews (if you combine it with one I am fine with it, but please don't post just a question).Whatever way you choose: I will answer you directly.

Enough of my trash talk now: read and enjoy (and review ;))

* * *

_**Behind the Curtain**_

_**- Summary -**_

* * *

The tomorrow has come and after three years Uzumaki Naruto and the toad hermit Jiraiya return to Konoha. 

Attempting to set up a camp, and in the process of gathering food being separated, our blonde hero stumbles across an woman. Possessing information that make him expect her being the target of a manhunt and being cut of from his sensei, he shows his first-aid skills and decides to carry the severely injured stranger to Konoha no Sato to let the Hokage have an eye on her.

Having not arrived yet, he is detected by a lone ANBU member, while taking a break. He is told that his 'cargo' is a wanted criminal. Since the ANBU is arousing suspicions in him, he decides to not let the Black Ops member know that he actually knows where the target is. Though his bluff is nearly revealed he manages to reach his goal and the black clad disappears with the statement that he should forget their meeting.

Thus having increased his adrenaline level to clearly unhealthy heights, he manages to reach Konoha, where he nearly gets whacked into nirvana by an overworked Tsunade who is willingly spends another night of her life in order to say a life.

* * *

_**- Summary -**_

_**-END-**_

* * *

Before I finally introduce you to chapter two, just one more thing. I strongly recommend to read carefully and to not get confused, I have played with a lot of stylistic devises, mainly expressed through the massive use of add rulers. Perspective changes quite often, especially in the end. I'd love to get some feedback if you liked it or not :)

And now, welcome to...

* * *

**_Behind the Curtain_**

* * *

_**- Chapter Two -**_

_**Insidious**_

* * *

Near death experiences vary.  
Some people who 'came back' told stories of a white bright light while others claim to have seen their whole life, repeating itself in their heads.  
The red-headed girl had never given a damn about fairytales of half dead freaks.  
In fact she had never given a damn about fairytales for as long as she could remember.  
Now she had to realize that those stories were indeed true; the past came when she didn't want it to. Even though she was unconscious, she didn't feel like that.  
She felt awake, imprisoned in her own body. Neither her arms nor her legs would move and even her eyelids refused to work the way they were supposed to be.  
It felt like looking at you from the outside.  
It was weird, surrealistic from a certain point of view.

_Frightening… _

Tayuya saw herself lying on a mattress. Clean, white sheets covered her slender frame along with the wrappings that were barely visible through the material.  
Hovering a few feet above her body she examined herself closer.

Somewhere in the back of her tortured mind was an impression of her former self.  
A girl with long, bright red hair, with an athletic body, slightly tanned skin and a vicious smile on her face, a girl with a goal in life.  
But that image had started to fade away since the extinction of the 'Sound four', the day of her own defeat.  
What she saw now was nothing but a broken, despicable creature.  
There was no brightness in the dull red hair, no muscles at the haggard body, no color on the white skin and definitely no smile on the distorted face.  
The body that she had been proud of once, and that now kept her imprisoned had nothing left that reminded of its former glory.

The Snake Sannin had once said that there was nothing as pitiful as a discarded actor who refused to leave the stage and even though she despised Orochimaru from the depths of her heart, she noticed that it was indeed true.  
She should have died three years ago, buried under a tree.

And with that thought it began.

Within seconds a huge dark _something_ came out of nowhere and started to engulf the room. The substance made no sound, it seemed like it was _swallowing_ the noise.  
While the darkness spread, the light diminished.  
_What the fuck?_

On a second look Tayuya noticed that it wasn't diminishing but rather backing away, the same way the redhead subconsciously did.  
The action wasn't taken by will, the aura the thing radiated, made it impossible not to shy away. Everything on that unnatural _creature felt wrong._

The black mass seemed like everything she never wanted to be, to see, to smell, to hear, or to touch.  
There was a small similarity to the thing that had lived inside her since that cursed day, four years ago. She had lost contact on the day of her last battle but she could still feel it.

But there was a difference. The creature that was residing in her body and mind was a being. An evil being, a spirit, a demon or whatever but it _existed._

She wanted to run away but couldn't.  
Suddenly she felt like throwing up and goose bumps started to spread over her aetherical body. It was cold.  
The temperature seemed to drop more and more the further it preceded.  
The walls and ceiling were already covered and the _thing_ now approached the floor and moved into the direction of her bed, of her body.

Her eyes on the wall she never noticed the puddle behind her, when stepping back. The sudden cold that raced through her body left her numb within a second, silenced her scream and took her mind away.

Some people tell of near death experiences where they saw a soft and warm white light. Usually they tend to move into its direction and never look somewhere else until they are brought back to the realm of the living.  
The one's that do are not any more amongst them since they never wake up again.

_It_ was always there, always at the edges of your sub-consciousness, waiting.  
Waiting was easy for something that was older than time and at the same time not even born, so enormous that it covered everything but still was non-existent.  
_It_ was always there, always waiting for those who fell into its claws; those who had lost their way, the one that led to the place where _it_ had no power.  
Lost souls were the prey of this predator and one of the victims had just made a fatal error. _It_ was always there… and it was always hungry.

* * *

Slowly Naruto's mind drifted back to consciousness.  
He tried to open his eyes, but the warm sunlight that fell through the window, forced him to keep them closed.  
Not that he wanted, he felt pretty comfortable the way he was.  
Waking up in a bed, even better, a _soft_ bed had become a pretty rare thing during the last three years.  
He turned his head into the light and cuddled deeper into the pillow trying to get some more sleep.  
It didn't work.

A little frustrated he let a hearty yawn escape his mouth and opened his eyes, this time slowly and completely.  
The birds chirping outside, the light and the soft bed had projected an image of a nice inn into his mind.

The inn turned out to be a cleaned up junk room and the soft bed a simple mattress.

_Where the hell am I?_

The question stuck in his head for only a few moments when memories flooded back. "Oh yeah, I am back in Konoha again" he stated aloud and sat up.  
There was a strange mix of feelings rushing through him right now.  
On one hand he was extremely happy to be back home, to see all his friends and comrades again, on the other hand, there was a weird feeling of uneasiness that wouldn't leave him and had, by right, no place in his situation.

Why he felt way, the blonde wondered.  
Uneasiness wasn't exactly a thing he experienced too often.  
Excitement wanted or unwanted maybe, but not that kind of thing.  
There was something nagging at him and he couldn't pinpoint it.

Akatsuki?

No, he didn't really care about that ominous organisation that jeopardized his life.  
If they came he would show them that he was no easy prey.

Orochimaru?

Not really but maybe…

Sasuke?

It would be a lie to say no, but it wasn't what he was searching for.

And then he heard a short scream and his mind switched to combat mode.  
The source of the, clearly female, scream was nearby.  
It somehow brought an image of something dark to his mind. No, it wasn't dark; it was more like missing space. It was a place of more than emptiness; it was a place of non-existence, a place where reality seemed amiss.  
Shaking the shiver off Naruto jumped out of his bed and threw the only door in the small room open.  
He stood in a middle-sized, slightly contorted corridor.

_What the…? This is the Hokage tower.  
Aaargh, of course it is the Hokage tower, I ended up here yesterday.  
Where should granny have let me moved during the night.  
Ok now, where came that just from?  
Right?  
Left? _

Gazing the corridor up and down he tried to remember, failed and turned left.  
There were doors in a rough 20 feet distance on both sides, but he had to make a decision.  
Rushing through the double-winged portal he found himself in a huge, only half-lit room.

The smell of the air alone was enough for him to know that his instincts hadn't failed him. The demon-vessels scent noticed the perspirations of at least six humans, various, probably medical herbs and the characteristical smell of old books, everything mixed up with the awkward stench of blood.

The huge room was the library of the tower; Naruto had already seen it before and was instantly able to remember it.

The blonde slowly approached the figure lying on a mattress in the middle of both: room and seal, it was the girl he had stumbled upon yesterday.

_Jeez, she looks even paler than yesterday with all the dirt off._

He suddenly wondered.

_Yesterday? Was it really yesterday?  
Hmmmm… no idea how long I slept. Why is nobody here to observe her anyway?_

Beneath the mattress there were two white, worn-out, chair cushions.  
Naruto placed a hand on the left one, it was still warm.  
Somebody had obviously been here until some minutes ago.

Since he was already here, Naruto decided to wait until someone came back.  
Seating himself on one of the cushions he wondered how the operation had turned out.  
The girl was as pale as a ghost and he could barely see her breathing.  
One moment: He could not see her breathing at all.  
Feeling the dire need to check this he slowly held a hand in front of her mouth and waited.

One second.

Two seconds.

No breath.  
He checked her pulse.

Nothing.

Naruto was, quite literally, tearing his hair. The blonde had no idea why it had always to be him to end up in such a situation, at some point there was an end to what one would call 'coincidence'.  
When some freak wanted to kill him he could fight back, bringing people back to life was something completely different.

Something way more difficult and he was no medic-nin.

Scraping together everything he had ever learned, or rather not learned, during his academy time he tried to act.

_Cardiac Massage, that's it.  
It can't be too hard._

He desperately tried to cheer himself up and failed miserably.  
His hands were shaking when he leaned forward to place them on the girl's chest.

Only a few inches before he felt a wave of uneasiness rushing down his spine.  
It felt like something in him didn't want to get in contact with the lifeless being.  
Only millimetres now, the uneasiness grew into a feeling of nausea.  
Naruto thought it was just excitement.  
When his hands touched the clothing above the heart, he realized how wrong he had been. His world went dark when his mind was sucked away.

* * *

_  
Water…_

_Water dripping... _

_Water dripping into large pools…_

_Large pools…_

_Large pools filled with dark water…_

_An endless hallway…_

_  
He knew this hallway. _

_He knew it well. _

_Countless times he had walked it down, and so he did now. _

_The light jittered. _

_It always did. _

_After some time he came to a cross-way and turned right.  
He did so randomly, it didn't matter.  
It would always make sure that he reached his destination. _

_Some more time passed until he finally reached the place the creature that had been sealed into his body, had wanted him to reach. _

_The blonde boy stood in a huge cavern, the same black water still covering the ground.  
The wall in front of him was missing; instead the bars of a cage could be seen.  
A cage gigantic enough to retain the greatest of the demon lords: the Kyubi no Yoko. _

_His body now moved as if it was being remote-controlled.  
Forward. _

_Always forward, closer to the bars. _

_The huge Seal on the front seemed small when compared to the fierce looking, red eyes behind it. _

_Lot's of different emotions were mixed in the loud, booming voice that came from the inside of the soul prison.  
One of them surprised the demon-vessel exorbitantly: He meant to notice a small hint of fear in the demons words. _

"_**What have you done brat?" **_

_It sounded accusing. _

"_What I have done?" the blonde asked surprised. _

"_I have done absolutely nothing you stupid fox, isn't it usually you that drags me to this dirty, wet hole?" _

_Barking laughter reached his ears_

"_**This dirty, wet hole is YOUR mind kit, not mine. Anyway, I have no time to waste it on insolent creatures like you…" **_

"_Wait, wait, wait, you want to tell me…"_

"_**Don't interrupt me brat."**_

_The set of claws that nearly shredded him to pieces painfully reminded Naruto who it was, he was talking to.  
Over the years he and the demon fox had made out some kind of ceasefire agreement.  
Due to the nature of the Shiki Fuujin and Jiraiya's special training, Naruto could draw from the demon lord's power whenever he wanted to. _

_Thus far the cooperation of the Kyubi was not necessary but the beast had a certain influence on the drain.  
If it desperately refused to give his chakra away, the whole process was way more straining for the boy, than it was without having to tear down barriers before.  
After taking some hasty steps backwards in order to put some distance between him and the potential objects of his demise, he dared to ask again. _

"_So tell me what I have done since I have absolutely NO idea what you want from me." _

"_**You really are pity like all mortals are. Just in case you haven't noticed yet, your stupid actions have brought us into great trouble."**_

"_Trouble?" the blonde asked dumbfounded. _

"_**Yes, trouble you annoying worm. You have dared to touch one that was already lost."**_

_Meanwhile the amount of what Naruto understood went straight down to hit the magic zero mark. _

"_I have no fucking idea what you want. That girl wasn't breathing anymore, I was just about to try to do something against that and suddenly I woke up here." _

"_**And exactly that was the part you should have left undone. The soul of that human is about to fall prey to**__ it__** and by touching her you aroused**__ its__** attention."**_

"_It?" _

_Now the voice was definitely angry. _

"_**You mortals are so despicably ignorant that it hurts. I always forget that your little ape minds have to repress the knowledge about **__it__** to stay sane.**_

_**Listen brat, and listen well since I won't repeat myself. **_

_**You know that after death, souls are separated, some go to heaven and some go to hell, depending on what deeds they have done.  
Usually those souls are guided but sometimes the death comes to fast or too unexpected and those souls don't realize that they died.  
Those souls have nowhere to go to; they are lost, caught in the void of eternity with no way out.  
The void is **__its__** realm. The lost souls that come by are **__its__** prey." **_

_A cold shiver had run down the blonde boy's spine, when he listened to the foxes hypnotizing voice.  
Somehow the darkness in the corners of the hall had seemed to become a little darker during the last minute. _

Creepy _Naruto thought. _

"_Erm, I still don't get why I am here." _

"_**As to be expected from you. **__It__** consumes souls. Souls consist of spiritual energy. This energy leads the hunter and the obvious connection between 'spiritual energy' and 'chakra' should be impossible to overlook, even by a pitiful being like you. To state this clearly: **__It__** is attracted by this energy, the more chakra, the more attention.  
Usually a single human has not enough chakra to get this attention, but due to me you have a lot more than you should have.  
By touching the victim, **__it__** felt us, and used **__its__** power to drag us into **__its__** realm.  
As you know, we are currently inside of your mind and due to the speed of your brain or at least what you call one, the time inside here is basically stopped.  
I managed to get you here before the transfer was complete to instruct you what to do. My intention is not do be extinguished, nor is it yours I guess" **_

_Naruto grinned. _

"_Your point there, fox. Tell me what to do." _

_Relief started to ease the tension that had been building up, when it came up to its own safety; the nine-tailed was more than reliable and extremely competent. _

_The red orbs behind the bars closed for a sheer endless time, while the demon lord was brooding.  
At some point the hyperactive blonde couldn't stand it anymore. _

"_So do you know what to do or not?" _

"_**Be quiet mortal. The situation your idiocy has brought us in is a catastrophe beyond imagination."**_

_It took another eternity until the demon spoke again. _

"_**When you leave these halls you will be in the void.  
It is a total and complete nothingness; it's the lack of anything that could ever exist except for pure energy.  
Every thinking being that ends up here will see something different, depending on their sub-consciousness.  
You will not only feel, but also be able to taste, touch, smell and hear.  
It will be so close to reality that the only difference is your knowledge that it isn't.  
Since the contact with this girl has brought you here, you will probably share what she sees, or she will share what you see, I don't know it.  
However, your main goal must be to end the physical contact. It is what gives **__it__** the power to keep us here…"**_

"_Hey fox, when I manage to do that, what will happen to her?" _

"_**Her soul will be consumed the way it was supposed to happen but that's not what I am…"**_

_Naruto was not shocked. He knew the demon lord to well to not have expected this suggestion. Nevertheless it angered him to end. _

"_So you want me to let her die?" _

"_**Of course."**_

"_NO WAY BASTARD. There must be a possibility to get her out of here as well." _

_The creature behind the bars raised his voice. _

"_**It's not the time to play 'hero' brat, it's either her or all of us."**_

_That was too much. Sometimes one had to make spontaneous decisions and Naruto was known to be very spontaneous.  
He sat down and crossed his arms. _

"_So I guess it's all three of us Kitsune no baka." _

_He waited for an answer of his lodger and already started to steel himself for whatever would come, it couldn't be that worse.  
Due to the seal the ancient being was nothing but a barking dog and an old saying stated that barking dogs didn't bite.  
Nothing came. _

_When Naruto looked up he looked directly into the demon's eyes.  
Blue orbs met red ones.  
It was no longer a discussion of words but one of willpower.  
Images raced through the boy's mind.  
Images that showed him what would happen if he didn't listen to the counsel he had been given.  
It was horrible; afterwards he had tried to remember what the demon had shown him for numerous times but something in him always kept the memories locked away.  
The only thing he remembered was a kind of fear that lay beyond everything that could be expressed with words.  
All the horror that was infused into his brain was nearly too much and under normal circumstances he would have broken down but suddenly he felt relieved: Yondaime's Seal had started to react on the control the nine-tails was trying to achieve and stopped it. _

"_**I hope you have seen enough of what will happen to stop your foolish reluctance."**_

_Naruto was lying on the ground, his head half-buried in the liquid that covered the tiles of the hall, and emptied his stomach.  
Under different circumstances he might have laughed.  
It was ridiculous: he was inside of his mind; he had no stomach to empty.  
The bad taste in his mouth said otherwise.  
Using his jacket as makeshift napkin he gazed at the prisoner, defiance flaring in his eyes. _

"_I told you once that it's either all three of us or no one and there is no way you can change that.  
I don't want to die here fox, do you?" _

_When no answer followed Naruto knew that he had won, for now at least.  
If there was one thing that the tailed beasts clung to with every ounce of power they had, it was life.  
No matter whether they had a chance to be free again one day or, what was more likely, be forever caged in the mortals they despised so much, they did everything to stay alive for as long as possible.  
Without the power of the nine-tails, the blonde would have been cold and buried long since and he knew that, but on the other hand he had to reassure himself that the power that had saved him on numerous occasions had acted only to protect itself, not him. _

"_So tell me what I can do to get us out of this?" _

_The growling of his opponent filled the hall and the voice showed hardly controlled anger when the demon began his next monologue. _

"_**Did you get all of that?"**_

"_Yes." _

_The demon gave Naruto a long look. _

"_**I will do what I can to slow **__it__** down, but don't expect my efforts to have any significant effect; you are on your own this time."**_

_The vessel grinned. _

"_No way I'll screw this up, trust me." _

_The content didn't. _

"_**Better don't. If you do it's over, for all of us."**_

_The shade in the prison seemed to sigh. _

"_**I'll free your spirit now. Don't fail us kit, don't fail us…"**_

_Naruto was still grinning when he felt the draw on his mind and the lights went off once again.  
_

* * *

"_Tayuya-chan, come in, dinner is ready." _

_The announced was currently kneeling on the ground and fed a white cat. _

"_Yes mommy, just one moment." she called back. _

_Turning back to the quadruped in front of her she sighed. _

"_Sorry Shiro-chan, no way to object ma, but I promise that I'll come back later. Okay?" _

_If the cat understood the words, it showed that with no sign. It kept on purring and gave an accusing meow when the little girl stopped petting it.  
With a big smile and a small giggling sound the girl stroke the fur between the ears a last time, before she turned around and ran further into the half-lit, dirty alley.  
Entering one of the shabby houses through a door that was even shabbier she passed an old couple and waved happily while running by, the smile never leaving her face. _

"_Good morning." _

_While the old man suffered from a spontaneous coughing fit, his wife waved back.  
Her slender figure was wrapped into worn linen robes and the flow of time had left its marks on her back and face, nevertheless her face brightened. _

"_Good morning Tayuya-chan, please deliver my deepest thanks to your mother, the medicine works wonder, even though he doesn't look like it right now, Isshin is a lot better than before." _

"_No problem granny. I'll tell her." she shouted back, didn't look and stumbled. _

_The girl could nearly feel the pain in her hands and knees when she felt strong arms wrap around her back, sparing her the bruises.  
Looking up she eyeballed her savior, or what she could see.  
His whole figure was covered in cheap-looking robes, a hood covering most of his face. The only things visible were glasses and some strands of silver hair.  
His voice sounded hoarse when he spoke. _

"_Be aware child, otherwise you will either hurt yourself or the next unlucky one whose reflexes are inferior to mine."_

_The redhead was still speechless, adrenaline had gotten a grip on her, a feeling she loved. _

_Helping her to stand straight again, the figure passed her and went for the door. _

"_Hey mister, who are you?" she asked the back of the cloak. _

_He turned around; sunlight coming from a hole in the wall turned his eyeglasses into a non-transparent wall, leaving his face as mysterious as before.  
He smiled. _

"_Maybe you will find out one day. Goodbye Tayuya." _

_Something suddenly got in the girls eyes; she cursed and rubbed in order to get it out, when she? Her field of vision had cleared, the man was gone.  
For a few more seconds, Tayuya stood there dumbfounded, then she simply shrugged and started running again, a bit more careful this time. _

_Pulling aside the dirty rug that separated the apartment from the hallway, the redhead stepped inside. _

"_I am home mommy." _

_Kicking her shoes off into the corner of the tiny corridor she entered the room that was both: kitchen and living room.  
Rays of sunlight illuminated the shabby interior.  
A closet, a few mats, a table, some seat cushions and chairs and in the corner near the open window, the kitchenette. _

_Her mother turned around, her usually warm brown eyes were shaded, the smile missing. Some of its former glory came back when she saw the girl but even to Tayuya it was obvious that something was wrong. _

_Her mother was never the one to hold back when something was the matter and the question came after the two had started to eat. _

"_Did you meet anyone on the way in?" _

_Gulping noisily the girl answered. _

"_Yep. Granny and a strange man with glasses and a cloak." _

_Her mother seemed alarmed. _

"_Did he say anything to you; did he DO anything to you?" _

"_Erm… no. I ran too fast and stumbled and then he caught me. I asked him about his name but then something got in my eye and he was gone." _

_The woman relaxed. _

"_Why do you ask? Who is he?" _

_Her mother leaned forward and hugged her.  
Her voice was calm and soft when she answered. _

"_He is no one. Forget that you ever met him. Promise that to me honey, will you?" _

_Tayuya nestled to her mother's chest. _

"_OK." _

"_Good girl and now eat up before it gets cold." _

_The observer had followed the girl since the near-accident in the floor.  
He left the little apartment under the cover of the same cloaking Jutsu he had used to sneak in. _

_Tayuya's life had changed a lot after her father died.  
She had been two years old when it happened, too young to properly understand…_

_After the incident, her mother wasn't able to keep the small farm running, forcing them to abandon the area in the north-western Fire country and move to a middle-sized town near the vital area where Kusa, Taki and Hi no kuni met. _

_The suburbs they were living in were poor and run-down but since the girl didn't really know a better life, she was as happy as possible considering the circumstances. _

_Her mother mostly worked at night, even though the redhead didn't know what she exactly did. Once she had asked, and her mother had answered that she made people happy.  
That had been enough to satisfy the curiosity of the kid. _

_Four days after she had met the bespectacled stranger in the corridor someone shook her out of her nightly slumber.  
Sleepy and confused, Tayuya was afraid until she realized that it was her mother.  
The woman was out of breath and soaked with sweat and various other scents the young girl couldn't identify. _

_She was ordered to get up and dress.  
While she was trying her best to do so, she heard her mother running around, gathering some belongings. _

_A minute later they were hurrying through the dark alleys of the city, the girl half walking and half dragged behind tried her best to keep pace with her mother, even though she didn't understand what was happening. _

* * *

The confusion worsened. The vision was blurry when a flood of pictures, smells, sounds, thoughts and feelings came down on him.

For a second, he felt like they were his own, but then a shade started to approach and he remembered.

Meanwhile, the maelstrom that a human mind created in the void started to grow.

* * *

The Keeper didn't fail to notice.

It was his task to keep the creation pristine.  
If an imbalance occurred, the consequences would be unpredictable.

* * *

When Naruto's vision cleared again, he seemed to be inside a cave. It was dark outside and the air was thick. Rain would soon soak the rough, dry soil.

He saw the redheaded girl disappear inside, following her mother.

Only a short time later, another group appeared on the scene.  
They approached with a speed that outdid the one of the first two by far.

It took him a few moments to identify the three men: they wore no uniforms or armor but everyone had a single hitai-ate knotted around his body.

"Iwa no shinobi" he thought.

The first droplets of rain started to fall, illuminated by a bright lightning and accompanied by a thunderous roar. The thunderstorm shadowed the scene

* * *

_  
The inside of the cavern was dark and damp; Tayuya could hear drops of water falling down into a puddle.  
Exhausted from the strain, that half a night of running away had put on her young body, she sat down where she stood.  
It seemed like an eternity that she had been in her bed, at home.  
It had been warm there, a bit smelly, but warm; the cave she was in now was cold. _

"_Mommy" she began, her voice weak, "why have we left home, where are we running, what is happening?" _

_The woman knelt down beside her daughter and pulled her in her lap, caressing her head and weeping silently. _

"_It's an old story honey, a very old one, I'll tell you later. All you need to know is that we have to go away from home for a while.  
We'll visit your grandpa in the capital, he'll take care of us, honey; we will be safe there." _

_Meanwhile, rain had begun to fall; a single flash enlightened the sky, more followed. _

_Tayuya shivered, the cold gave her goosebumps, she hadn't eaten since yesterday and the lightning and thunder scared her. _

"_I am afraid" she murmured into her mother's chest. _

_No reply came, instead she felt her head gently forced upwards, looking into her mothers face. _

_Granny had always said that she had her mother's eyes, soft and of a rich, hazel color.  
Those eyes were looking down upon her now, bearing tears that ran down her cheeks in a constant stream. _

"_Why are you crying, mommy." the young girl asked. _

_Later, the girl would understand why, for now somebody else took her opportunity to answer. _

"_So here you hid, wench" thundered through the cavern. _

_The speaker stood in the entrance along with two other men.  
Rain had soaked them and Tayuya watched almost fascinated as the droplets fell down.  
Somehow she knew that the men were here to hurt her mother and her, she didn't know where it came from, but she did.  
For a second she had the feeling of observing the whole scene from outside her body.  
The noises of rain and thunder, the blood in her ears and the sobbing of her mother, everything seemed to loose its reality.  
Her view shifted to an empty spot behind the men, it was empty, though something forced her to look upon it.  
She stared until her eyes hurt and was finally able to see a silhouette when a shadow came upon the scenery and suddenly she was back in her body. _

_She didn't feel the pain when the speaker, a huge, muscled man with auburn short hair and a nasty looking scar across the right half of his face gave her a backhand slap that send her flying.  
She didn't feel the impact when her head collided with the rocky soil. _

_Eight years old Tayuya barely heard the conversation that was accompanied by more beating, this time for her mother; she was close to fainting and watched through half-closed eyes, when the men ripped the dirty rags, which covered her mother's body, to pieces. _

_The girl barely heard the pleas for mercy, the screams and the laughter when they started raping her most beloved person.  
When one of them drew a kunai, some deity seemed to have mercy with her and let her fall unconscious.  
_

* * *

Naruto was enraged, the moment he saw the biggest of the Rock Ninja slap the girl and started to deal with her mother. In this moment, he had forgotten that this was something that had already happened, something he could not change. He had forgotten that it wasn't real.  
Throwing himself at the bastard that seemed to be the leader he was shocked to see that his hand just went through the head of his target.  
He tried again and failed.

Then he remembered, this was the void, it was Tayuyas memories he was observing.

He was forced to stand in that cavern and watch how the woman in front of him was brutally raped and tortured.  
He was forced to hear it, to smell it.

The demon-vessel's hatred rose to a degree he had never thought to be possible.  
For a brief moment he felt the connection with his lodger, but then it was gone again, along with all his anger.

The blonde had never really understood why his best friend sought power so desperately, only to fulfill his need for revenge.  
Now he did.

However, the hatred didn't come alone. It was accompanied by something even worse: helplessness.

Standing beneath the lifeless body of the beaten girl he was about to cry.

The Godaime was sipping some sake to celebrate, well, to celebrate whatever was worth celebrating, currently it was the fact that she had gotten a hand on some fresh sake supply, when she felt the wave of demonic chakra radiating from the lower levels of the tower. The intensity of it made her shiver for a moment; she shook it off and jumped up dashing out of the office.

* * *

_  
Tayuya was awakened by rough hands shaking her body._

_For a moment she was sure that she was at home, suffering from a nightmare.  
Keeping her eyes closed she pretended that everything was fine, it didn't work though. _

_The hands retreated like the claws of the living nightmare she was trapped in, a second later she was slapped again, less hard than the first hit she had taken, but still enough to make the girl wince and shriek in pain. _

_Lying on the ground, doubled up with pain, Tayuya felt nothing but fear and despair, she felt tears flowing down her cheeks. _

_A throaty laughter drowned out the crackling sound of another lightning that tore the sky apart. _

"_As I said, she's awake." _

_A higher, softer voice answered: "Stop that shit Kaito, she is only a child." _

"_She is the spawn of that whore Hayato. Isuma-sensei always said that you are too soft for the way of the shinobi and it seems he was right." _

"_You have no right to…"_

"_Cut it you two" a third voice stated. The coldness behind it made the redhead shiver, "All three of us have sworn the oath to avenge him and I plan to keep it." _

"_But…"_

"_No 'but' Hayato, otherwise…"_

_He left that threat present without finishing it, and turned to face the trio's last victim. _

"_Open your eyes girl" he commanded. _

_Unable to disobey she did so and saw the three men glaring down at her. _

_There was the muscled man that had beaten her twice, his face was bloody now, and then the second one named Hayato.  
He was smaller than his two comrades, black, curly hair framed his slender face; he looked afraid.  
The third one stepped forward and pushed the first one aside; grabbing her at the throat and lifting her up until their eyes were at the same level. _

_She barely noticed his blonde hair, the grey eyes blazing in the gaunt face kept her own locked. _

"_Do you know why we are here?" _

_Hanging thirty inches above the ground and with the pressure on her throat and neck left the girl completely unable to either speak or even shake her head. _

"_Yeah, that's what I guessed. Well, your damn whore of a mother killed our sensei after he fucked her." _

_Tayuya's eyes widened in shock, a gurgling sound escaped her tormented throat. _

_A sardonic smile crept upon the visage of her opponent. _

"_And to make sure that that slut suffers a little before she goes to hell, I plan to flay her daughter alive and before her very eyes. I hope that you haven't seen that poor girl, have you?" _

_Panicking she tried to escape the grip, but failed poorly. _

"_Hayato" the voice commanded, "giving it a second thought, I think that it would be better to let you do it, sensei was right when saying that you are too soft: honor him by proving him wrong." _

_The man with the cold eyes drew a kunai and handed it to Hayato. _

"_But…"_

"_It's your choice: do it or I'll do it and kill you afterwards, got that?" _

"_What about that: you hand over that girl to me and get lost and I may let you live" a fourth voice stated. _

_Three pairs of eyes met two. _

_Suddenly Tayuya felt the grip around her throat loosen; she fell to the ground and started coughing and gasping. _

"_Who are you, bastard?" the man with the cold voice demanded to know of the newcomer. _

"_The one that will end your little show, and now take to your heels, I hate repeating myself."_

* * *

All his bad feelings forgotten, Naruto stared at the newcomer, closed his eyes, then watched again and was still unable to believe it.

_Kabuto! What the fuck is that guy doing here? _

Watching the tide of happenings, he had the feeling that he was oblivious to something, he just didn't know what it was.  
The bad feeling in his guts though wasn't getting better.

* * *

Hurrying through the vastness of non-existence, the keeper saw his targets in reach; not only one, but two mortals.  
The disorder they were creating was about to rip a hole in the barriers, one that could probably not be fixed; they had to be stopped at once.  
The usual measures seemed not to work.

* * *

When Tsunade reached the source of the pulse she found Naruto lying upon the girl he had delivered earlier. Being a practiced healer, the busty blonde instantly noticed that the chests of the two weren't moving.  
She also noticed something else.  
It was a feeling she could only describe with the feeling children had when it got dark inside their room fearing that there was something in there closet or in front of their door waiting for them to fall asleep.  
Bridging the distance with a speed her predecessor would have been impressed of she was shocked.  
Running through the routine she tried to get Naruto into a better position, but when she tried to move him, the chakra suddenly returned.  
A clawed hand grabbed the arm she had meant to lift the dead body up with.  
She stared into blazing red eyes, the voice speaking barely recognizable as the one of Naruto:

"**Don't do that woman, or we will die." **

_The chakra…, the voice…  
Kyubi…_

She suddenly felt dizzy.

The creature spoke again, its voice fading away like a paper burning away in a fire  
**"You must not separate us, reanimate us or it's over. Believe us."**

The chakra was suddenly gone, the claw around her arm turned back into a hand, that fell down as the body went limp again.  
Surprise, confusion and fear fought a battle inside her while she still stood there, frozen in her movement when she heard a male voice from behind her.

"Do as you were told, the Kyubi knows that his life or death is inevitably connected with the boy's, he won't fool us."

_Jiraiya._

She felt his hand on her shoulder "Don't start to discuss now Tsunade. I know that you want to know where the hell I am coming from, why I dare to give you commands and why I am such an unreliable perverted jerk anyway.  
If you want, we can discuss this later; now do what you can to wake them up.  
I have already informed Shizune; she'll come in a few moments."

A weary smile crept on the woman's face.

"You know that I have always hated your ability to read me like a book, do you?"

Without having to turn around she knew that he was smiling too "Yes, and your extremities have reminded me of that more often than I could have ever liked."

_And you deserved every single blow of that_, she thought, slightly amused.

_Jeez my head hurts; I could really use another bottle of sake._

A small, but very pushy voice added '_or maybe some bottles less._'

Hearing footsteps outside, she yawned and stretched her sore back.  
It was so annoying, years of peace and as soon as the brat returned she had to dance one life or death dance after the other.

_Indeed Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja._

* * *

"_Did you hear that guys? He wants to spare us if we run." the big man said and had his words followed by a roaring laughter._

_He went forward and built himself up in front of the one that had just saved her, at least for the moment. _

"_OK boy, would you mind telling me how exactly you plan to finish us three off? It seems you have no idea who…"_

_Tayuya couldn't really see what happened, but suddenly the bespectacled man was behind the big one, a drawn kunai in his hand. _

_A sudden gust of wind lifted the cloak and hood of the newcomer, revealing his silver hair along with a Konoha hitai-ate, a fact that didn't go unnoticed. _

"_Konoha" the man with the evil eyes said, making it sound like a curse. _

_A small smile crossed the face of the announced. _

"_Well, that's not completely correct, but rather close." _

"_I have enough of your talk boy, you are good, I grant you that, but Kaito was weak and careless, I am not." _

_Kabuto smiled and then both dashed forward to engage each other.  
The thud of Kaito's dead body hitting the ground drowned the clear sound of steel meeting steel._

* * *

Naruto was more than impressed by the duel. If he calculated it correctly, Kabuto was around 14; his enemy however was much older and more experienced, that was obvious. 

Still, the younger one fought an impressive battle.

Evading a high kick, Kabuto dived and counterattacked with a low kick against the supportive leg of the rock ninja. His opponent evaded with a leap and the silver haired boy was forced into the defence as four metal stars flew in the rough direction of his vital spots.  
Still in a crouched state, he used the leg he had attempted to hit with earlier, to spin him around and block the incoming attack against his face before rolling backwards and finishing his escape with a flik-flak.

The sweat on Kabuto's face didn't pour unnoticed.

_He's already fighting a freaking high level, but his stamina is worse than when he and I fought. He won't stand that for a longer time._

The leader of the rock ninja seemed to have noticed that too, he was barely out of breath.

"Give it up brat, you may be skilled but you are nothing but a wimp compared to me."

A sardonic smile crept on the man's face while he was talking.

"Surrender and I will kill you quickly; otherwise I fear I'll have to take my time with you."

The reaction of Kabuto surprised Naruto not the slightest bit, he was smiling.  
If Naruto had learned one thing about Orochimaru's servant, it was that he always had something up his sleeve.  
He had even managed to survive after being hit directly with a Rasengan and that had definitely gotten him some credit on the blonde's card.  
One that had been eaten up by him being revealed a traitor, but a credit still.  
He watched as the spectacled teenager got up and wiped the sweat of his forehead with a debonair movement.  
Forming hand seals, Kabuto stated

"Bunshin no Jutsu."

Six identical copies stood now in front of the rock ninja who was now faced with 36 throwing knifes being drawn simultaneously.

Utilizing the comparatively small cavern to his advantage, the medic-nin forced his opponent back until he stood with his back to the wall, quite literally.  
Thus having cornered his enemy he threw the weapons.

Naruto would probably have used his clones in order to break free; the shinobi that was faced with the attack right now reacted way more defensively.

Doton: Doro Gaeshi no Jutsu

Slamming his hands into the ground the rock ninja summoned a pretty solid looking wall of earth.  
30 illusionary knifes deflagrated along with those who had flung them, while the real six bounced off with a bright, metallic sound.

Kabuto looked quite displeased with the way his efforts had just been ruined.

The wall started to crumble away revealing an amused looking man.

"As I said, you are no opponent for me. 'Kaji of the bloody cliff' I am called since I killed thirteen of you in the battle of the winter flowers."

If Haruno Sakura would have been in Naruto's position she would probably have instantly recognized that battle.  
It was the most famous last stand of a group of ninja from Iwa no kuni during the third great ninja war.  
Having been separated from the main force of the attack, the group had been cornered at a cliff a few hours northeast of Konoha.  
Using their superior skills in rock manipulation, those ninja had utilized the stony, woodless area to their advantage and turned the tide.  
In the end, nearly all of them were dead, but they had taken four shinobi of Konoha with them for everyone of their own. 109 names were added to the memorial stone that day; it was considered one of Konoha's greatest military disasters in the whole war.

Unfortunately she wasn't in Naruto's position and thus the demon-vessel had not the slightest idea what the words just said meant.

"I see that you are accepting my generous offer quite reluctantly, maybe I have something to help you."

The blonde haired stared at the long sequence of seals being performed. The speed was average, nothing compared to Kakashi or others but still not bad.  
With crunching sounds, the pieces of stone and earth on the floor began to restructure, slowly at first, but gaining speed quickly.  
Naruto recognized the attack, he had seen it before.

_That's not true, that freak won't use it in here. The damage to the area is way too high, he would…_

"Kaji, you can't do that, we'll all die" a voice, stricken with fear, was heard from the other side of the cave.

The third member of the party had snapped out of his trance.

"Shut up you weakling, I should have killed you long since. If you get in the way, you die. Do you really think I'd commit suicide" he laughed.

"The only one dying here will be that stoic brat ."

"But, the girl…"

"I said shut up" the older one yelled in a high, screeching voice.

"You are weak, you have always been weak and you'll die weak. That's the difference between us. I don't give a damn what happens to the offspring of a treacherous wench."

Suddenly Naruto's eyes raced to the beaten figure lying beneath him.

_Shit I gotta do something; she's going to be… No wait, this ain't real. I'm in the void; this is something she has already experienced. She's no child so it must be a memory. Or maybe not…  
ARGH screw that stupid fox, he babbled so much that I forgot half of the stuff.  
I have to get out of here, but how? I KNOW that he said something about that, I just can't remember._

Giving that a second thought Naruto suddenly noticed that, since he had no idea how to escape the void, he was as good as dead. For an unknown reason he didn't like that.

* * *

„CPR and basic techniques unsuccessful Godaime-sama. The critical point is reached and overstepped, yet they are not showing any signs of brain death due to the lack of oxygen. I have no idea why though."

Nodding, Tsunade was about to say something when another medic-nin broke in:

"The preparations are complete, with your authorization we can begin instantly."

"Do it."

* * *

  
Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu

_Oh SHIT, he did it. _

The giant dragon's head that had formed behind Kaji opened its mouth, his abysmal eyes staring into nothingness.

For Naruto everything ran in slow-motion now. Not because of him, he guessed, but because of the girl.

_Tayuya…_

His feelings were all mixed up right now. He had seen some things on his travels with the white-haired frog master that he'd prefer to forget and what he had been forced to observe in the last hours fitted perfectly into this category.  
He could only image how a child that had lived such a life and already seen these things at this age would one day turn out.

_Not too different from what I am_ the demon vessel guessed with a sad smile.

Loneliness, hopelessness, spite, hatred, pain, all those words and all the feelings that stood behind the façade of ink on paper were able to tear a single human being apart.

Gaara was the living example for that and that girl had even been '_or is_' he mentally added, a servant of the snake bastard.

He watched, condemned to his observer role, as the dragon head tore parts of his substance away and mixed it with the chakra that had been given to him for exactly that purpose.

It was fascinating, yet somehow he doubted that it really worked this way, it just didn't look natural, more like... he couldn't quite find a word for it.

Suddenly, and without a warning, a sting of white-hot pain tore through his body.  
The world around him started to blur.

"We had a heartbeat Tsunade-sama" a medic yelled.

"Good, keep going and make sure you get them both at the same time."

Even decades of training were barely able to hide that the glorious fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, the legendary medic-nin Tsunade was as nervous as a single person could be without having a heart-attack.

Pumping her energy into the seal, she tried to focus only on the action.  
The thought of another death of a person so close to her would be unbearable.

_Now what the hell was that?_ Naruto thought panting, as the last waves of pain ebbed away.

His sight, _her sight_ cleared and the scene continued where it had been before the interruption.

The deadly earth projectiles left the dragons mouth.

They were different from the last technique of the said name that the blonde had seen. Commonly this technique was performed with mud or earth, it needed less chakra and usually those materials were easier accessible.  
This one however was created out of pure rock displaying the ultimate form of the earth dragon missile.

He could see it all and so sharp that it nearly hurt.  
Both, Kabuto and the third rock ninja performing hand seals, the glittering of the razor sharp edges of the stone projectiles, the puddle of blood beneath the woman, glittering in an unearthly red.

Then another shot of pain came.

* * *

"We can get Naruto anytime, but the girl isn't reacting, Tsunade-sama" Shizune stated everything but calmly. The raven haired woman was in fear. In fear about the life of the boy that meant so much, not only to her but also and especially her master.

"What shall we do?" another medic asked.

"Keep the damn process running."

* * *

The blonde woman jumped up and moved into the seal being careful not to touch the lines on the ground and approached the two figures. She gently ran her hand trough the blonde spikes, trying to calm herself down.

"Can you hear me Naru-chan?" she whispered softly into his ear.  
"I know you can, so don't even try to ignore me, not this time. Listen, I don't know what happened here, but if I can trust the Kyubi, I know that you are in great trouble. We can't get you out of it without your help. Please little one, I can't stand loosing you."

Finding himself on the ground of the cave, the demon vessel opened his eyes again._ If this shit goes on, I'll die before that thing even arrives._

Observing the nearly frozen scene he meant to hear words, gentle words, spoken by a familiar voice.  
He didn't understand them but somehow he felt a certain need of urge and with that, the words of the nine tailed demon came back.

_Our time is running out Tayuya but we'll make it._

* * *

At the same time, a person in the eastern quarters of Konoha let out a loud scream that greatly sounded like „Gotcha".

The remaining citizens in the area were up in an instant, all of them had fearful expressions on their faces.  
Not because of the scream itself, they were common and being ignored with the same patience as an old dog ignores the child that tries to knot the poor creature's ears together.  
The really frightening thing was the time.

It was around 8.00 AM, a time were silence was as guaranteed as weak-, strong- and electromagnetic interaction, not to mention gravity.  
Thus seeing one of the basic principles of the universe being broken, panic took over and 38 civilians were registered to move out of Konoha that day.

Luckily for the non-spandex wearing members of Team Gai, no word ever reached Konoha that these 38 civilians managed it to the border of the Wind country in only 27 hours.

Neither knowing what dire consequences the stentorian scream would have, nor that her neighborhood would be a lot emptier in the future, Mitarashi Anko slammed the door of her apartment shut.  
One _shunshin_ later, the kunoichi made her way to the Hokage tower with large, chakra boosted leaps and a small wooden box in her hands.

* * *

_  
Ok Naruto, don't panic, all I have to do is to make her interact with me instead of her own memories._

Memories were one of the three basic aspects of the way a human mind could interact with the void.  
Memories included present events and future events, both happening in a way the person would like it to happen or how it really happened.  
The second aspect was the pure imagination a single person could muster; this part included all kinds of random things put together, ideas, thoughts, and feelings. It could be compared to dreaming of nonexistent facts.  
The third and final possibility was that the human's mind refused to create the delusion of existence in a place of non-existence, in that case the void itself created it in order to stabilize the human until it could be dealt with.

And that was exactly the problem.  
Not only was something after him that had chosen his soul to be the early lunch but now also something that the fox had only named "The Keeper."

The void could be seen as the glue that kept all the different worlds together, and should it be damaged in any way the creation would fall apart and probably be annihilated.  
The nameless being existed to devour the souls before they could even reach the emptiness of the void, while the keeper could be seen as the last stand, should the hunter fail and let a soul slip through the barrier.

Since he and the girl were the troublemakers, human presence seemed to be enough to damage the structure of that strange world; they would be hunted down as soon as possible.

He remembered the words.

"_**First you have to gain her attention. Whatever you will see, she will think it is real, thus you will have to make her notice you in order to convince her that it isn't"**_

_All right, shouldn't be too hard._

Still on all fours, he crawled over to the wretched looking child.

Unsure what to do, he waved a hand in front of her face.

"Oi, Tayuya, can you hear me? Hello?"

No reaction.

The demon-vessel tried again, louder this time.

"Tayuya can you hear me? Come on, I know you hear me, I am no illusion I am real. Hey?"

Still nothing.

"_**If she refuses to acknowledge your presence, try as long as it needs to, there is no other way."**_

Naruto sighed and then screamed from the top of his lungs while waving like a madman: "TA-YU-YA can you hear me? My name is Naruto and I am caught in your fething memories so talk with me or we'll both be going west in time."

And somehow it seemed to work.

The eyes that had been stoically focused on the events in front of her before turned around to meet his.

His hand moved on its own, touching the shoulder of the redheaded girl and surprisingly, it didn't go through like it had done earlier. Naruto could feel the rough material and the shaking of the body due to the cold.

He smiled warmly.

"Hi."

The scene around changed. The cave started to blur and finally disappeared, only to be replaced by an area that greatly resembled the forest of Konoha.  
The girl also changed.  
Her face, body and clothes were being altered.

_She's aging_ the blonde thought, somewhere in between being shocked and surprised.

The whole process seemed to take only a moment, yet he could remember every second of it. It was weird, but on the other hand, everything in this place was weird.

The outfit was the one she had worn the day Sasuke had defected, though she looked older. A faint hint of anger that had begun to rise in the blonde boy when he remembered that particular day was cut off when he heard her ask, "Who are you?"

* * *

„Mitarashi-san, what are you doing he…" were the only words the tired chunin on guard-duty could say before the announced special-jounin rushed through the entrance he was supposed to guard.

The man made it halfway out of his chair before he sat back down.

There were a few unwritten laws in Konoha, and one of them was to never argue with Mitarashi Anko when you were weaker than, and to carefully think if it is necessary when you were stronger, than her.

Hijiri sighed and noted the incident in a little book. He was pretty sure that no one except the fifth would blame him.  
As a preparation for what he expected to come, he went over to the emergency pack and grabbed a pair of earplugs. The combination of the Hokage's and Anko's temper usually ended in a rather loud argument, to state it modestly.

Sitting back on his chair he pulled a certain book out and started reading, a little flush covering his cheeks.

* * *

„Who I am?" he asked. "I am Naruto. You are Tayuya, am I right?"

"Yes. Do I know you?"

_Shit, she is talking like she's still a child._

"Listen Tayuya, this here is not real, we are not in a forest, we are…"

His speech was interrupted when the light began to fade.  
Spinning around he gazed at the horizon. It wasn't there, instead a massive wave of grey darkness started spreading and came closer with unearthly speed.

* * *

The pair of ANBU that stood on guard outside the library made the fatal attempt to stop the approaching snake summoner in order to learn what she desired from the busy Hokage. The head of the first one hit a wall, a vase with a crafty arranged bouquet, a painting made by the Sandaime Hokage, the ground and another wall, exactly in that order, while the head of the second one was used to tear down the locked wings of the portal.

Without stopping the process even they were working on even once, seven pairs of eyes met Anko's.

"Hokage-sama, I have no time to explain. Those two are nearly dead and you won't be able to help them in time. Let me do this."

* * *

Naruto wasn't desperate. Being desperate wasn't his way of dealing with problems. Usually a situation where a normal person would be desperate in caused the demon-vessel to be even more dedicated.

„Tayuya, we have no time. All you see isn't real. We are in another world and something is coming to kill us. This is not real. We are not in this forest, both of us are in Konohagakure. Do you understand that. You have to wake up. This is our only way to get away alive."

Her clouded stare seemed to clear. Burning hazel eyes looked at him.

"What the fuck is going on?"

* * *

The four medics, Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya silently watched as the kunoichi channeled chakra into a paper seal that she had placed on Naruto's left hand. Sweatdrops ran down her forehead.  
_Fuck it isn't working, that freakin' kid is like a well. _

Finally she turned around and yelled, "You lazy bastards there, stop staring and help me channel chakra into the seal. I don't have enough."  
Instantly the party moved.

* * *

From the corner of his eye, the blonde saw the darkness approaching. It could only be a matter of seconds until it reached him and what happened then was unsure, but definitely no tea party. But he had her attention, that was everything that mattered.

"We are in another world and something big is coming to erase our existence. If you want to get out of here, take my hand."

Tayuya was sceptic. She was in an area she didn't recognize, wore clothes she detested on sight and some freaky blonde guy told her weird stories.

As long as she could remember, the redhead had solved problems analytically. Think first, act second had always been her motto of choice.  
But right now, in this forest, in these clothes and with that opponent she closed her eyes for a single heartbeat and felt what was heading towards her location.  
She didn't want to face it, no matter the costs.

With her eyes wide open she snatched the blonde's hand.

Inside his cave, deep inside in Naruto's soul, the Ninetailed fox roared with laughter.

* * *

_**Behind the Curtain**_

_**- Chapter Two -**_

_**-END-**_

* * *

**A/N: **  
To simply quote what my favorite author, George R.R. Martin wrote into the afterword of „A Feast for Crows", THAT ONE WAS A BITCH. 

It took me over four months to work myself through this monster, something I am not really used to, since the ideas come freely most of the time (like in chapter one).

Since one of my goals is not only to develop a plot, but also to display realistic characters I had to give some background information on Tayuya.  
Unfortunately (or luckily, depends :) ) she is a rather blank character with only very few things we know about her while Naruto is, more or less, well known.

I have been asked by some people whether this is a Naruto/Tayuya story.  
It is.  
It is just plain fact that I dislike to write a story only for a romance of two characters.  
What I am doing is focussing on the plot. The relationship between those rather pigheaded characters is just a part of it, a significant part, but only a part nevertheless.

And last but not least I again want to thank all those people who took their time to review, it really, really helps to get feedback, please keep on doing so :)

Nearly, but not completely forgotten, BIG greetings to my beloved (and sexy :D ) beta-reader.  
I'd be so dead without you :)

And to finally finish this, my favorite phrase:

* * *

Since you have already wasted a certain amount of your lifespan to read this story, I would be most grateful if you would take yourself another minute to review. Tell me why (if) you liked the story. Tell me why you probably didn't like it, what you would like to see improved and so on. Serious criticism is desired.

* * *

h3x 05/30/07 


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